Crossover Episode: A Sort Of Homecoming
by JPC
Summary: Spike brings Connor back to Angel. And that?s just the first surprise in store for Angel. Later on, Angel has to convince Cordy he?s not jealous of Spuffy, despite much evidence to the contrary. And Angel tries to mend his relationship with Connor, and sa


Spike brings Connor back to Angel. And that's just the first surprise in store for Angel. Later on, Angel has to convince Cordy he's not jealous of Spuffy, despite much evidence to the contrary. And Angel tries to mend his relationship with Connor, and even manages to say some nice stuff to Connor about his mother. Lilah and Gavin also make an appearance. And Spike befriends Fred and Gunn, much to Angel's annoyance.

Connor knew where the Hyperion was. He just didn't know how to get there. Not from the highway. After getting off at the wrong exit, Spike drove around until Connor recognized the terrain and led Spike to the hotel. It was Sunday, so it wasn't hard to find a parking space outside.

Connor and Spike walked into the Hyperion. They were in their standard uniforms. Connor wore a green t-shirt and black jeans. Spike wore black jeans, black t-shirt, and an unbuttoned red long-sleeved shirt. They opened the door and entered the lobby. Once inside, they stood side-by-side to let everyone get a good look.

Cordelia was sitting on the circular couch. Angel was standing to the rear of the lobby drinking his morning blood. They turned their heads to see who it was. Connor on the left. Spike on the right. Angel froze in astonishment. His glass fell from his hand and shattered, splashing blood on the floor. Cordelia ran at Spike and hit him in the nose with a left jab and in the cheek with a right hook. Connor instinctively defended Spike. He grabbed Cordelia and threw her backwards and to the ground.

"What the bloody hell was that for?," Spike yelled.

Cordelia stood up. "Uh, hello? You're a vampire!"

"Duh, hello?," Spike mockingly responded. "I just walked in here from the sunlight. Would a vampire do that?" Spike grabbed Cordelia's right hand and put it to his chest.

Cordelia gasped in astonishment. She turned to Angel with a look that was part incomprehension, part horror. "It's beating," she whispered to him.

Spike turned to his left and looked at Angel. "Turn and face the strange," he said, quoting from the David Bowie song "Changes."

Angel didn't know what to do. First, he looked at his son with relief and joy. "Connor, Connor, I'm so glad to see you. I missed you so much. Every day I wondered where you were. You're here. You're okay. I love you son. That's all that matters."

Well, not entirely. It also mattered to Angel why his son was with his old protege turned enemy turned (apparently) human. "Spike. You, me, my office. Now."

Spike followed behind Angel. "Of course," he said to himself. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

Cordelia put her right hand on the top of Connor's shoulder. She couldn't believe it was him. Connor was nervous. He was expecting another glowing episode. It didn't happen. Then Cordelia hugged Connor tight. He was rather stunned. He hugged her loosely. "You're home. You're finally home," she told him. Then she let go.

Cordelia walked Connor to a couch and they both sat down. "So Connor, where have you been? What have you been doing with yourself?" She didn't know Spike lived in Sunnydale. So she was in for quite a surprise.

Angel was flustered and nervous, pacing around his office. He didn't know where to start. "Let me get this straight. You're a human. With a soul?"

"Kind of a package deal," Spike said with a smirk.

"When did this happen? How did this happen?"

"Last summer. Charming little cave on the Gold Coast. Beat up a few baddies. Had some bugs crawl under my skin. Bass-voiced demon gave me my soul back, made we one of the beating hearts again."

Angel found this underwhelming. "A test! That was all! Prove you're a dime-store champion and they give you life?" Angel looked up, as if trying to talk to the Powers That Be. "If this is a joke, I'm not laughing!"

"Who are you talking to in the ceiling?," Spike asked.

"No one, it's nothing."

"Angel, there's something you need to know. Last year, when I was still one of the unbeating hearts, I slept with Buffy."

Angel's eyes lit up with rage. He reached out and punched Spike in the stomach. Spike decided to make the most of this moment, despite his pain. "Not that we did much in the way of sleeping, mind you. And when I say slept, I mean more than once. More than, well, I guess I stopped counting after 20." Spike smiled at the emotional pain he knew he was inflicting upon Angel.

Angel kneed Spike in the groin. "Ow, Ow, Arghh. From what I understand about your little setup with the glow girl, it's a bit too late for jealousy."

"You took advantage of her!," Angel yelled at Spike. "She was lost, she was numb, she didn't want to live, and you exploited that." Angel knew this from his meeting with Buffy after she returned to life.

Spike had mostly recovered from Angel's blows. "For what it's worth, I can assure you that she always deeply and thoroughly detested me. Except, of course, when we were actually . . ." Spike gave Angel another wicked smile. Angel took a few steps towards Spike. Spike back up. But Angel realized beating on Spike wasn't going to make him feel any better. Besides, there were more urgent matters to discuss.

"So this whole time he was in Sunnydale?"

"Following in his daddy's footsteps," Spike joked.

Angel had trouble taking this all in. "So. He knows . . ."

Spike knew what Angel was after. "Yep. He knows Buff and the gang. I should tell you that when we met him, we didn't know who he was. Told us he was Steven from Utah. It took a few months before he told us the truth. Talk about your coincidences! By then, we had all grown attached to him. But this is where he belongs. That's why I brought him back."

"You know his story. Does he know your story?"

"Quid pro quo, Angeliam. At first, he didn't take it too well. But like I said, by the time we knew the truth and he knew the truth we had grown quite attached. Funny thing is, if he didn't know I had been evil, I couldn't have convinced him you were good."

Angel got it. "Oh, you mean like why only Nixon could go to China."

Spike rolled his eyes and groaned. "You're such a bloody American. I was going to say like Disraeli and poor relief, but you got my point. Only someone who had been by your side when you were evil could convince Connor that you aren't evil. And he learned something. I was bad, I got souled, so now I'm not. You were bad, you got souled – well, souled and de-souled and re-souled – so now you're good."

"I'm starting to think I liked you better when you were evil," Angel said, only half-joking. "I feel like I'm gagging on your do-gooder ernestnous."

Spike laughed at that. "I'm ernest? I'm the cornball do-gooder? Look who's talking superhero boy. Rescuing damsels, saving Metropolis, living in chaste art deco splendor. By the way, how the devil do you afford this place?"

"Cash hoard. From and old friend. Long story. Also it was about to be abandoned."

"Well of course it was. Vampire and abandoned go hand in glove. Abandoned crypt. Abandoned mansion. Abandoned hotel. Have to say, you spruced this one up good. Always were a genteel fellow, right Liam? Need to be surrounded by the finer things."

"I'm not in the mood for a nostalgia trip William," Angel told Spike.

"I was talking bout the here and now. Speaking of which, you son's in love. With Buffy's sister. Apple didn't fall too far from the tree, now did it?"

Angel was stunned and a little disturbed. He went back out to the lobby, as did Spike. "Connor, can I talk to you?," Angel asked. Connor went off with Angel into Angel's office. Cordelia went off the call Willow. A lot had happened in her hometown since their last conversation. Spike was left alone in the lobby.

Fred and Gunn walked into the the lobby from the rear entrance. They saw a stranger sitting there. "Hi there, welcome to Angel Investigations, we help the helpless. How can we help you?," Fred said the Spike, thinking he was a prospective client.

Spike laughed. "Help the helpless, my god that's so like Angel. He would come up with something that sappy."

"You know Angel?," Gunn asked Spike.

Angel and Connor stood in the office in tense silence for a few seconds. Angel didn't know quite what to say. "So, you were, you were in, Sunnydale?"

"Yeah," Connor answered, stating the obvious.

"How was Sunnydale? How was it for you?"

"Quite. Peaceful," Connor began. Angel looked confused. No one had ever used these words to describe the Hellmouth. "I felt safe. Safer than here. You can watch movies there and people don't come and attack you. And I met some real nice people."

"So you like Buffy, and her friends?"

"I feel weird around Buffy. You and her, that's just a little gross. But it taught me something. No matter where I go, I can't escape from you. So why should I try."

Angel was a little worried. "Why would you want to escape from me?," he asked gently.

"I don't. That's not what I mean. It's just, I fall in love with this girl, and then I find out my father slept with her sister. Do you have any idea how sick that is? The one girl that's meant for me in the entire world, and you with her sister? How could you do that? For crying out loud, you're my father!"

This was a classic example of teenage self-absorption. Connor was blaming Angel for things he did before Dawn or Connor even existed. His comments were manifestly absurd. A perfect example of an adolescent believing the world revolves around him.

On the subject of Buffy and Dawn, Angel tried to be charitable. "Connor, if I had known, if I could have had any idea. But I didn't, I couldn't. You, and Dawn, you're miracles. Miracles no one could have predicted. (actually a few people had, but no prophet could have foreseen that the vampire spawn would fall in love with the energy orb.) I'm glad you found someone. I think it's wonderful that you've had your first girlfriend."

Connor didn't like a few of those words. "Had!!? First!!?"

"I mean, come on, you're sixteen. You have to play the field, sow your oats, meet new people. There's plenty of great girls in this city. You're a kid. You're supposed to have fun." Angel was disturbed by the fact that his son was dating Buffy's sister. He wanted him to move on.

Connor really didn't understand what Angel was talking about. And he didn't want to discuss his love life with his father. After all, who does? So he changed the subject. "You know why I came back?"

"I don't care. All I care about is that right now you're here with me."

Connor was determined to tell him anyway. "I know you didn't kill Holtz. Spike told me. And Spike's never been wrong."

This was a mixed blessing for Angel. On the one hand, his son didn't think he was a murderer. On the other hand, his son thought Spike was some sort of oracle. Angel did have a question for Connor. "When you were in Sunnydale, where did you live? With Spike?"

Spike was in the lobby telling Fred and Gunn a story from the old days. "So Angel's on the third-story balcony, drunk off his gourd, holding up a handkerchief in his right hand, singing "La Donna E Mobile" – horribly off key off course – to the revelers inside. And then he leans back, breaks the railing, and falls to the street. Lands on the back of this horse, killing the poor beast. Angel staggers to his feet, not a clue what's going on. The guy who owns the horse is mighty pissed, and he shoots Angel three times in the chest. Angel falls into a water trough, and passes out.

"When the party's over, I go outside, and he's still there, like he's sleeping in the bathtub or something. I pick him up, take him back to the hotel. He's moaning and complaining the whole way, slurring "Why we leaving so soon? I just got to the party!" and going on and on about how I'm ruining his fun. I get awful sick of his bellyaching. I'm saving his bleeding life after all, getting him indoors before sunrise.

"So I play a little trick on him. When we get back to the hotel, he passes out again. I take his feet and put them out the window. When the sun comes up, Angel awakes, and his feet are on fire! He's scared out of his wits, running around the room trying to put his feet out. And his running only fanned the flames!"

Fred and Gunn laughed because this vampire Spike was describing sounded so different from the Angel they knew. It was odd for them to imagine Angel the Champion being such a buffoon.

Fred had become very adept at sweeping the inside of the Hyperion for bugs, so Wolfram & Hart gave up on interior surveillance. But they did have cameras outside at all the entrances and exits. This allowed them to keep track of who entered and exited Angel's headquarters.

Lilah and Gavin were at work, looking at a still shot of Connor entering the Hyperion with Spike. "Big news," Gavin told Lilah. "Here comes the son."

Lilah disagreed. "The big news is who the son is with. I'd like to know about blondie."

"Looking for a new boyfriend?," Gavin joked.

"Gavin, grow up and get a life, so you won't have to live through mine," Lilah shot back as she walked out of the room. Gavin stood there for a few seconds. He thought her comments were unfair.

Angel needed someone to talk to about all this. He finished talking with Connor just as Cordelia finished talking with Willow. They met up in the lobby.

"Buffy has a teenage sister? When did this happen?," Cordelia asked Angel. "I mean, it's not like Buffy and I were friends, but I think I would have noticed something like that."

"She didn't have a sister. Now she does. It's very complicated, I'll explain later," Angel told Cordelia. Then he got to his gripes. "Connor lived with Xander! I don't believe it. Why must my son spend all his time living with my mortal enemies!"

"You consider Xander your mortal enemy?," an amused Cordelia asked.

"No, but you know what I mean. He hates me. I just don't like my son living with people who hate his father. Is that so wrong?"

Spike had told Fred and Gunn about how and why he "won" his soul back. Of course, it was a highly idealized version. No chip in the head. No attempted rape. No tricky demon twisting his words.

"I think it's so wonderful how you became a person because of your love for a woman," Fred gushed. Angel rolled his eyes.

"And that demon you killed by yourself so Connor and his girl could go to the dance, that's just some mad skills right there," Gunn added in reference to another story Spike had told them.

Connor heard this. "That day I saw you all black-and-blue, when it hurt to stand up. That was from the night of the dance? You did that for us?"

"And he didn't even tell them!," Fred exclaimed, as she wiped a tear from her eye. "I think it's great how you risk you life to help others."

"Ahem!," Angel cleared his throat very loudly. This was really getting absurd.

Fred explained. "Oh Angel, you have all that vampire strength, and with a soul and all you kinda hafta use it to save people. Spike's got nothing. Ah mean, look at him. He's nothing but skin and bones. For a weak little thing like him to kill demons, that takes courage." Finally, Fred said something which angered Spike and thus made Angel a little happier.

"So, is it true? You got a girl Connor,?" Gunn asked him.

Connor smiled and blushed. "Oh, look. Connor's in love," Fred cooed.

"Love would be an understatement," Spike joked. "They make a cute couple. A bit too cute, perhaps. Sometimes they get so lovey-dubby and wrapped up in each other it gets on everyone else's nerves. Know what I mean?"

Angel and Cordelia glared at Fred and Gunn. "We can imagine," Cordy said to Spike.

"Hey Spike, sorry about the punches," Cordelia told him.

"It's nothing. Happens all the time."

"So you've changed," Cordelia added.

"So have you, from what I've heard," Spike replied.

"I mean, you're no longer evil," Cordelia clarified.

"And neither are you," Spike replied.

"I was never evil!," Cordelia yelled.

"Well, maybe not evil," Spike explained. "Just shallow, superficial, rude, self-centered, poor taste in men. Least that's what Angel used to say. Last one's kind of ironic, considering."

"Angel?," Cordelia exclaimed as she glared at him.

"I was evil at the time," he sheepishly explained.

"Poor taste in men! What did you mean by that?," a still angry Cordelia asked.

"Cordy, come on," Angel said with a smirk and raised eyebrows. "Think about it."

Cordelia realized what Angel meant – actually, who Angel meant – pretty quickly. But before she could say anything, she was struck with a vision. "Baldwin Hills, corner of Clover and Sunset. Fourth floor apartment. Man and a woman, being attacked, large, brown-green, clawy, drooling thing. Thirty to forty minutes."

Everyone began to prepare. Everyone but Spike. Cordelia was three feet off the floor. Spike stood there, mouth agape, jaw dropped in disbelief. "What, you've never seen a girl float before?," Cordelia asked him.

"That's a little less than 5 miles from here, right Charles?," Angel asked Gunn.

"Closer to 10. But it's right off the Santa Monica freeway. Shouldn't be too hard for us. You can make it, right?"

"Long as I don't have to stop to catch my breath," Angel joked.

Everyone was getting weapons. Angel picked out a sword and handed it to Connor. "Is this a good one?," Connor asked Spike.

"I think you'll like this one better," Spike replied. He put back the long, thin sword Angel had picked out and gave Connor a shorter, thicker sword. "Better for the slicing and dicing." Connor took the sword Spike had chosen and smiled. Angel seethed.

"So you'll meet us there?," Cordelia asked Angel.

Spike knew magnanimity was the better part of gloating. So he said "Connor, I think you should go with your father. Better to travel in pairs." Connor understood and walked over to Angel.

Cordelia was driving, with Spike riding shotgun, Fred in the back behind Spike, and Gunn in the back behind Cordelia. "Sorry for my astonishment, but what the devil was that back there?," Spike asked Cordelia.

"A vision."

"You have visions? You see the future?"

"Among other things," Cordelia glibly answered.

"So this is how you guys operate? Little miss vision thing sees some big bad, tells you where it's going to be, and you run and stop it?"

"Pretty much," Fred told Spike.

"Kinda takes the fun out of it, don't you think?," Spike commented. "That's cheating. Like being given the questions before the exam."

Angel and Connor were jogging through the sewers at a leisurely pace of 20 miles per hour, which, coincidentally, is the average speed a subway car travels at. While moving at this breakneck pace, they calmy chatted.

"Connor, what did you think of Buffy?"

"She's a pretty good fighter. But very insecure. Needs everyone to tell her she's the best. Like she's so special."

Angel made a quick 90 degree turn to the left. Connor, running right behind, followed suit. "Connor, she is special."

"Spike seems to think so. I don't know. It's not like she's as special as her sister."

Spike and Buffy. That caught Angel's attention. "Do Buffy and Spike get along?"

"She was real mean to him. Real unfair. But then she started being nice to him. Gave him a big kiss this morning before we left."

Angel stumbled and nearly fell down when he heard this, but he recovered within a fraction of a second. "Pothole," he explained to Connor.

"Winifred, Charles, how did you two hook up with Angel?," Spike wondered.

"I've been killing vampires since I was a kid in my neighborhood. Eventually we crossed paths," Gunn explained. Made sense to Spike.

"I was enslaved for five years in another dimension, and Angel came and rescued me," Fred told Spike. This made less sense to Spike.

"Actually, we all were there," Gunn clarified. "We freed all the humans. Led a revolution."

"And I was made princess!," Cordelia added.

It was too much for Spike to swallow. "You're joking, you're pulling my leg, right?," he asked.

"Nope. That's the truth Ruth," Fred answered.

It wasn't just Connor. All of Angel's cohorts had engaged in trans-dimensional travel. Spike lived at a convergence of mystical energy, and no one he knew in Sunnydale had ever gone to another dimension.

"What is it with this town!?," Spike asked rhetorically. "Do they have a portal at every bleeding freeway exit!?"

"I don't think we've ever seen a freeway exit bleed," Fred answered, taking Spike's language literally. "I'm sure it's possible, with spells or something. It would certainly be messy and probably cause a few accidents."

Spike started laughing, but not at Fred. "You guys, you must be worshipped by the people in that other dimension. You came out of nowhere, and overnight, you delivered them from bondage. They must think you're gods."

"They'd worship us?," Gunn asked.

"Of course. You liberated them. You were their salvation. They'd idolize you. Probably already built all sorts of monuments to your greatness."

Gunn and Cordelia liked the idea of being worshipped and honored by the multitudes. "Monuments. Wow! You really think?," Cordelia wondered.

"Maybe we should go back there if we get the chance. Mingle with some of our fans," Gunn suggested.

"No!," Fred yelled. "That was a horrible, terrible, awful place. Have ya'al forgotten that?"

Angel and Connor were still running. Connor had something on his mind. "Buffy told me that you lost your soul and became evil and then got your soul back and became good again. Is that right?"

"Yes."

"That seems easy. Go back to being good, never pay for all the evil you did."

"I did pay, Connor. Right after I got my soul back, I was sucked into Hell."

"You were in Hell? The Hell? As in the opposite of Heaven?" Connor wanted to make sure Angel wasn't talking about a mere "hell dimension."

"Yes, son. Fire and damnation and all of that. I don't know how long I was there. Hundreds of years, maybe. Certainly felt like more than a lifetime. And then I was tossed back here, right out of the blue."

Connor stopped running. Angel realized this and also stropped. Connor had never known that Angel had truly suffered for his sins. And given that Connor had tried to put Angel in a sort of Hell, he felt a little guilty.

"I didn't know that. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about putting you in the water. I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize. It wasn't your fault. I should have told you I was going to talk with Holtz. When you found out, naturally you assumed the worst. Doesn't matter now. All that matters is that you and me are here, now, together."

Angel put his hand on Connor's shoulder, and took a good look at his son. For the first time that day, Connor smiled at Angel. "Now that you're home, I think you need a haircut. Maybe some new clothes," Angel joked with Connor.

They both started running again. "I'd like some new clothes," Connor told Angel. "Xander took me shopping, but he wouldn't buy me any of the stuff I liked."

"I never thought Xander had great taste in fashion myself," Angel replied. "And the clothes do make the man." Ironically, Xander thought the same thing. Father and son made a quick right, and ran another 100 yards. Then Angel stopped. "I think this is the spot," he told Connor.

Angel and Connor climbed from the sewers into the apartment building's basement, and then walked up to the lobby. A minute later Cordelia parked in front of the five-story building. Cordelia, Spike, Fred and Gunn walked into the lobby. They were a bit surprised to see that Angel and Connor had beaten them.

All six of them went up the stairs to the fourth floor. There were four apartments on the floor. "Happen to see which apartment the demon popped up in?," Angel asked Cordelia. Actually, she hadn't. But before she could tell Angel this, they heard screams from behind one of the doors. "Guess we'll just have to go by ear," Angel punned before he kicked open the door.

Angel dashed in followed closely by Connor, both of them brandishing swords. The screams were from the second room on their right. In the middle of that room was a snarling demon which matched Cordelia's description. A man and a woman cowered in a corner of the room. The demon was approaching them, swinging its arms and spewing forth thick phlegm from its mouth.

Angel attacked it from behind. The monster hit him with the back of its left arm, knocking him to the ground. Then the monster turned to face the intruders. Connor swung at it with his sword. The monster decked him with a right slap before Connor could connect. Angel got up and slashed the monster in the chest with his sword. This produced a long but superficial would which didn't seem to bother the demon too much. The demon grabbed Angel with both hands and threw him into the wall. It then moved in for the kill.

Connor maneuvered behind the demon while it focused on Angel. The demon was about seven feet tall, a full 18 inches taller than Connor. So Connor leaped in the air. He swooped down on the unsuspecting demon and cut off its left arm. When the injured demon turned round to see who had done this, Angel raised his sword and cut off its head. Arm, head and body fell to the ground and vanished.

The room was about 15 feet wide and 20 feet long, barely enough room for a large demon and two sword-wielding warriors. So Cordelia, Spike, Fred and Gunn waited at the door until the fight was completed. Only then did they enter. The room was bare. No furniture. No carpet. In the center of the floor was a large pentagram. They had seen this before.

Sitting along the back wall of the room, with two of the "legs" of the pentagram pointing towards him, was a third man. A complex geometric symbol was drawn onto his forehead. Both his palms with covered with a blue powder. The beast was obviously summoned, and it was obvious to all who had summoned it.

Angel walked up to the man. "Get up," Angel told him with disgust and loathing. Then Angel took a quick glance and the man and woman standing in the corner.

Angel began with a joke. "A Lechnyl demon, for a double homicide? Talk about overkill. Kinda like using an ax to cut a stick of butter, donchya think?"

The man was silent. He didn't look scared. He had the casual confidence of a sociopath. "Just giving them what they deserve. I devoted my life to that woman. I was a faithful, loving, caring husband. But she went behind my back. Again, and again, and again. With my best friend, of all people. Come on, man. Put yourself in my shoes."

It was this guy's lucky day. Angel turned around and walked over to the man and woman standing in the corner. He put on his vampire face. The man and woman practically wet themselves with fear. Angel looked at the man. "Is he telling the truth?," Angel asked him. The terrified man sheepishly nodded. Angel grabbed him by his shirt and shoved him into the wall. He put his fangy, bumpy face right up to the man's. "So this is your idea of friendship?" The man turned pale and started hyperventilating.

Cordelia walked up to Angel and tapped him on the back. "Uh, Angel, honey, I think you're losing sight of the big picture. Demon summoned, attempted murder, remember?"

Angel let go of the man and went back to his human face. "Real sorry bout that. Don't know what came over me. No hard feelings?"

"It's cool," the shellshocked man answered. He had been through a lot in the last few minutes. "T-t-thanks f-for killing that thing," he said to Angel.

Angel turned back and looked at the real villain, the one who summoned the demon. He was human, which made it hard to punish him. "What do we do with magic man?," he asked Cordelia.

"I can try one of those purges, or cleansings, you know, with the glowing?" She put her hand to the man's chest. "I got nothing," she told Angel

Everyone stood around. They didn't feel like leaving, since once they did the man could try to use magic once again to exact vengeance. Connor thought of cutting something off. An ear, maybe a hand. But he remembered how that horrified Dawn, and how she told him you can't do that to people. So he didn't speak up. Then Spike had an idea.

"Connor, can I borrow your dagger?," Spike asked. Connor handed it the Spike. Spike walked up to the man, grabbed his left hand, and slashed him across his palm. Then he held the man's hand over the center of the pentagram, the palm facing downward. Blood streamed down onto the floor. A white flash, like a miniature lightning bolt, shot up from the floor and into the man's body. Spike let go and flinched, as if he had received a small shock. The man fell to the ground and started shaking. A green light emanated from his chest for a few seconds. Then he stopped shaking, and smoke rose from the symbol on his forehead. He was clearly alive, but he looked a little baked. Spike wiped the blood from the dagger and gave it back to Connor.

"Just a hunch. When you don't know what to do, the answer's usually blood," Spike explained, obviously referencing Angel's experience with Acathla. "I think that gave him a taste of what he was summoning, short-circuited his powers, blew his magic fuse, so to speak. His wizard mojo should be fried." The man's eyes were glazed over and he appeared almost catatonic. "Don't worry, he should be up and about in a day or two."

It was late afternoon, and the sun had not yet set. Angel and Connor went back down to the sewers, and Cordelia, Spike, Fred and Gunn went home by car. Down in the sewers, Angel made a suggestion. "Connor, how bout we take the subway, the train, most of the way back."

"What's wrong dad, you tired?"

"It was you I was worried about."

"Well stop worrying and try to keep up," Connor boasted and then took off running. Angel followed. After about a mile of sprinting Connor started to lag behind Angel. Once Angel was well in front. He stopped, turned around, and walked back to Connor. Connor had his hands on his knees and was sucking wind.

"What's wrong son, you tired?," Angel joked. "Don't worry about it. After all, you're only human."

Connor got his breath back. Angel's comment reminded him of something. "Dad, what was mom like?"

Angel looked dismayed. "I'm sure Holtz told you plenty about her."

"No, not that. Spike said that she came back as a human. What kind of a person was she?"

Angel was not expecting this. But he did his best. "Darla, your mother, when she came back, she was scared, she was lost. She was never given a chance. The first time she lived, way back before she became a vampire, she wasn't really given a chance then either. She only got to see the rotten, evil side of people. And when she was brought back, she was brought back by some very bad people who weren't going to let her live, as a human, with a soul. They were just using her, remaking her as a human only so that could remake her as a vampire."

Then Angel thought of something. "When your mother was pregnant with you, when it was time for you to be born, she realized she couldn't give birth, that you couldn't come out of her. She knew you were dying, and she staked herself so you could live, so you could have the chance she never had. Your mother loved you, Connor. You were the only person she ever truly loved. She knew that giving you life was her only chance to give the world something good. And whatever else anyone ever tells you about her, I always want you to remember that."

Connor was touched. He hardly thought about his mother, and he certainly had never thought anything good about her. He looked at Angel. "I didn't know vampires could cry," he said to his father.

Angel realized he had been tearing up a bit, and felt embarrassed. "Well, I guess there's a first for anything," he joked. "No one likes to see their old man cry. Come on, I know a quick way to the subway. We'll give your legs a rest."

Linwood summoned Gavin and Lilah to his office. "I've heard our boy is back. Anything else new?," Linwood asked.

"Spike, aka William the Bloody" Lilah began, reading from her research.

"Spike's not new," Linwood shot back.

"He's human," Gavin announced.

"That is new," Linwood commented. "Tell me how we can exploit this development."

Gavin launched into his pitch. "Connor is the key. It is obvious that Connor trusts Spike more than he trusts Angel. If we make life in LA very difficult for Connor, he will be sorely tempted to leave this city, to leave his father and return to Spike. We need to let Connor know that so long as he is here with his father he is not safe. If he learns that he will be safer with Spike, he will leave Angel. This of course would devastate our vampire, and fill him with rage, envy, jealousy. Then we'll have him right where we want him."

"Playing the rivalry card is the obvious course of action," Lilah began. "But the obvious course is usually not the best one. Attacking Connor could backfire. It could make him dependent on Angel for protection. It could bring father and son closer together. Besides, it would be a waste of resources. Connor is not the key.

"Buffy is the key. She has always been the key. She turned Angel into someone who could pose a threat to us. Spike has now reopened the lines of communication between Sunnydale and LA, between Buffy and Angel. This could divert his attention. So long as Angel is worrying about Buffy, he is not worrying about us. If we can make life difficult for Buffy, Angel will rush down to help. And he can't be in two places at once."

"I like that," Linwood declared. "Indirect warfare. Besiege Wei to save Zhao."

"Mao Zedong wrote that," Gavin offered, trying to suck up to his boss.

"And which ancient general was he referring to?," Linwood asked Gavin.

Gavin didn't know. "Sun Tzu?," he guessed.

"Sun Bin," Lilah answered correctly. Gavin's little attempt at sucking up had blown up in his face.

Gavin tried something else. "Sir, if I may, I would like to volunteer to head all of our Sunnydale operations, to implement our new strategy, give concrete form to Lilah's vague generalizations. With your permission of course."

"Fine with me," Lilah said. She didn't want to get bogged down in provincial operations. She knew the glamorous work was in LA.

"Then it's settled," Linwood declared. "Great to see you two working together like this. Do keep it up. Because if you don't, you're both gone." The Senior Partners had long grown sick of Gavin and Lilah's petty and wasteful competition.

Sun Bin, who did besiege Wei to save Zhao, knew even more about deadly workplace rivalries than Lilah. Sun Bin and Pang Juan were two young generals who worked for the same king. Sun Bin was more talented, but Pang Juan was better at sucking up to the boss. Pang Juan managed to convince the king that Sun Bin was a traitor. The king punished Sun Bin by having his kneecaps removed, crippling him for life. But Sun Bin managed to escape to a rival king and got his revenge.

After defeating Pang Juan in a series of brilliant campaigns, Sun Bin set up an ambush at a mountain pass. He estimated that Pang Juan and his army would enter the pass at night. So he had a tree stripped of its bark and the words "Pang Juan died beneath this tree" carved into the wood. When Pang Juan walked by the tree at night, he noticed the writing and lit a lantern so he could read it. Sun Bin had ordered his crossbowmen to fire at a lantern. Pang Juan and his army died in a hail of arrows. Allowing a man to read his own epitaph in his final moment of life. It was a brilliant and artful kill that even Angelus himself would have admired and envied.

Angel and Connor were on the subway. They were the only passengers in their car. "Have you cried before?," Connor wondered. He was still rather shocked that Angel could be capable of such tender emotions.

"When I lost you, when you were taken from me, I cried then. It's not like other vampires don't cry. I mean, Spike used to ball his eyes out all the time, like a baby, over nothing. Wa wa wah Dru left me.' He could turn himself into a blubbering wreck."

"Dru? You mean Drusilla?," Connor asked.

"He told you about her?," Angel asked back.

"I saw her. I tried to attack her but for some reason I couldn't. She was the only thing I ever saw that scared me." (This was quite a compliment considering and all that Connor's seen in his life.) "She called me baby brother.' But Spike protected me. He killed her."

"You saw Spike kill Drusilla?"

"I didn't see it. She ran away. And later on Dawn told me Buffy told her that Spike killed her."

Angel was a little scared himself. Now he might have to tell Connor what he did to Drusilla. And that story was even worse than anything Holtz could have told Connor about Angelus. But he wasn't ready to do that just yet. "Well, I'm just glad you don't have to worry about her anymore," Angel told Connor. "You know that I'll protect you, don't you?"

"I don't need anyone to protect me," Connor stubbornly declared.

"Of course not. But you know that if you're ever in trouble I've got your back."

"Like the time we were fighting those vampires?"

"Yeah. Like that."

"That was fun. We should do it again sometime."

"We will. I'm sure we will." The train slowed down. "This is our stop," Angel told Connor. The sun hadn't set, so Angel had to reach the hotel through the sewers. "You can go up to the street if you want. I'll meet you back home."

"But I don't know the way," Connor told Angel.

"It's just a couple blocks. You'll figure it out."

"But, it's just, I'd rather go with you."

Angel was touched by his son's newfound devotion. They made their way to the link between the subway and sewer tunnels. "I'm sorry you have to travel like this with me, crawling in and out of tunnels. I wish I could go outside with you, like any normal father."

"What's a normal father like?," Connor asked.

"You know, like what other people have. A dad. Someone they play catch with."

"I don't know anyone else with a father," Connor told Angel.

Angel thought for a second. He remembered that Buffy and her friends didn't have fathers. He realized Connor had probably never met another person whose father was around. There were plenty of things Angel couldn't do with Connor. But that still made him a better father than any other he knew, save perhaps Fred's dad. Angel realized Connor wasn't unlucky to have a vampire as a father. He was lucky merely to have a father who loved him. And Angel no longer felt inadequate. It was almost enough to make him want to cry.

"Spike, can you explain the whole Buffy sister thing to me?," Cordelia asked as she drove. "Three years ago, no sister. Today, teenage sister."

"Ooh, are hell dimensions involved?," Fred asked.

"Dimensional travel is an LA thing," Spike told her. "Nope, not the answer. Oh, what am I doing, 20 bloody questions? Here it is Cordelia: There was an orb of incredibly powerful mystical energy. To keep that energy from falling into the wrong hands, some monks turned the energy ball into a 14 year-old girl and gave her to Buffy for safe keeping. They also messed with all our heads so we thought Dawn had been there all along."

"So she's not related to Buffy?," Cordelia asked.

"She kind of is. They made her out of Buffy, or they used Buffy as the template for creating her, something like that. Point is, they're like sisters, as if they came from the same parents. We don't really know the details."

"So she's like Buffy?," Cordelia wondered. "Is she also a Slayer?"

"She's her own person, different than Buffy. Different personality and different likes and dislikes and all that. I don't think she's a Slayer. She does fight vampires, but that's mostly out of necessity. Kind of goes with the territory, as I'm sure you know."

"So she's made from' Buffy and she's dating Connor. Doesn't that strike you as, well, kind of gross? Especially considering Buffy and Angel."

Fred and Gunn knew vaguely who Buffy was, and quickly figured out what Cordelia was talking about. "Ew, that is kinda icky if you ask me," Fred declared. "The daddy and the son with sisters."

"That's whack," Gunn added. "This is Cali. This ain't Kentucky!"

Spike was probably the only person who knew Angel and Buffy and didn't agree with this assessment. "Cordelia, I think you're missing the point. Don't you see how Connor and Dawn being together helps you?"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"I guess I have to spell it out for you. Yes, it would be odd, if Buffy were still with Angel. But she's not. You are, aren't you?"

"And this relates to Connor how? Start making sense peroxide boy."

"You never were the brightest bulb in the socket," Spike sighed. "Connor and Dawn are gross' or icky' only if Angel is in love with Buffy. If Angel loves you instead of Buffy, what does it matter that Angel's son and Buffy's sister are dating. You get me?"

"Oh. OOOh. Yes, of course! How stupid of me! I was just so used to think of Buffy and Angel as an item that I forgot that Angel and I are an item! Kind of. I mean, considering all of Angel's . . . special conditions. By the way Spike, why do you care who I date?"

"Let's just say you and I have a common interest in keeping Buffy and Angel apart."

"You mean, you and Buffy? Nooo! I mean, she wouldn't. Not with you."

"That's funny, cause Xander used to say the exact same thing. Never realized you two were of the same mind." Spike knew this was rankle Cordelia, comparing her to Xander and all.

But that did get Cordelia thinking – not about Spike but about Angel. When everyone reached the hotel, Gunn and Fred went out for something to eat. Connor picked out a room and unpacked his stuff. Spike went out to his car to get something. And Cordelia went up to Angel and asked him "Can we talk, alone?" Why not, Angel thought. They went off to a room.

"You should know that jealousy is not your most attractive side," Cordelia told Angel.

"What are you talking about?"

"Your little about-face at the apartment. It was so blatantly metaphorical."

Angel realized what she meant. And he knew how to respond "You want jealously? Jealousy was me paying you to go on vacation because I couldn't stand to see with with another man. Jealousy was telling you to get out of my life at the very moment I needed you most. That was jealousy. Pure, irrational jealousy. Buffy's in my past. You're in my future. You, and Connor, are my future. I love you."

I know, Angel. And I love you," Cordelia responded. "I just can't go through with this if in the back of my mind I know you love her more." (She had already been through that once before.)

Angel looked worried. "Cordy, I don't. Maybe there was a time when I did. But not now. Not for a while. Sure, I love her. She's important to me. But not like you. I know I can live apart from Buffy. But I know I can't live apart from you. Losing Connor. And then losing him again. I couldn't have made it through without you by my side. Without you, I'm nothing."

"Well, just so we have that straight," Cordelia joked.

With that settled Angel moved on. "Cordy, now that Connor's back, I was hoping you could be around here more, so that we could be a family."

"Are you asking me to move in with you?"

"Maybe. I mean, you should still keep your apartment. It's nice, the rent is low, and we can always use a safe house in our line of work. Thing is, Connor seems to like you. You exert a calming, leveling influence on him, and I'm not just talking about that one time."

"Oh, of course. You want me here for Connor," Cordelia replied.

"Not just for Connor. I know we can't . . . like other couples. But I also know that when you're at your apartment, and you're not here, I miss you."

"So you are asking me to move in," Cordelia concluded.

"I'm asking you to live here. If that's your definition of moving in,' fine. Do you want to?"

Cordelia smiled. "Well what do you think, silly?," she joked. Then she hugged Angel and kissed him. "Of course! I mean, with 100 rooms, I'll finally have enough closet space." Cordelia began to walk out of the room. Then she worried her answer seemed too flip, and she turned around. "Seriously, this is wonderful. Everything you said, you don't know how much that means to me." Then she kissed him again and left the room.

Angel took a second to let everything sink in. He hadn't even planned on asking her to move in. It was just one of those spur-of-the-moment things. Everything finally seemed to be coming together nicely for him.

Angel went out to the lobby, where Connor and Spike were talking. "Connor, before I go, there's something I was to give you. Here, catch," Spike said as he threw a rock in Connor's direction. Connor caught it with both hands.

"It's an Acacia crystal," Spike explained. "One-of-a-kind. It's the only Acacia crystal that glows. Dawn's Key power makes it glow. It's something to remember her by while you two are apart. Think of it as my Christmas present to you."

Connor was overjoyed with the gift. We ran up to Spike and hugged him. Then he took the crystal to his room. Spike turned to Angel and joked "Looks like you're not the only one in the family with a girlfriend who glows."

Angel didn't seem to like the joke. He went up the Spike, grabbed his shirt, and pushed him against the wall. "Who are you and what have you done with Spike?," he asked.

Spike laughed. "Come on Angel, you know how getting a soul can change a bloke."

"That's the problem," Angel responded. "You didn't change from one personality to another. You became two personalities."

"Oh please. Enough with the Jeckyl-Hyde, Sybil, Janus crap."

"I'm serious. The old Spike's still there. When you got your soul, you just created a new you, a nice you. But you kept the old model. You switch back and forth between them when it suits you. Sooner or later, it'll suit you to be your old self. And I'm just warning you that when that happens, if you hurt anybody I care about"

"Angel, I'm not like you. I can't lose my soul and turn back into a vampire."

"That's not what I'm talking about. There are plenty of ways you can hurt people I care about as a human being. And if you do"

"Got it, you'll come after me, make me sorry I ever came back to this part of the world. Yeah, yeah, yeah, threat received." Then Spike turned and went to the door.

"Spike?," Angel asked. Spike turned around.

"My son thinks you killed Dru."

"I did."

"You expect me to believe that? You expect me to believe you could overpower her?"

"Who said I overpowered her? Brute force isn't the only way to get the job done. I seduced her. Made her think I wanted to be evil again. Go figure." Then Spike went out the door, got into his car, and home as the sun went down, listening to Bowie's "Heroes."

Angel went to see how Connor liked his room. Connor had something more important on his mind. "Father, I have an idea. Wanna do something tonight? Just the two of us."

"Absolutely. What did you have in mind."

Connor pulled out his dagger and smiled. "Justine."

Angel gasped in horror. Connor had that homicidal twinkle in his eyes. "W-w-what are you talking about?"

"Remember I told you I know you didn't kill Holtz."

"Uh-huh," Angel nodded nervously.

"Justine did. She killed him. She tricked me. She made me go after you. Now we pay her back."

"We don't do payback! We're don't do vengeance. It's not right. It's evil."

"No, what she did was evil. She made me hurt you. All those months, trapped, alone, that was her doing. If she didn't lie to me, I never would have done that to you. I made you pay for something you didn't do. Isn't it time we made her pay?"

"Connor, she's human. We don't kill humans. We can't. It's not our way."

"She killed a human. (And tried to kill another. But Connor didn't know about that.) She put you in a sort of living death. We just let her get away with that?"

"How do you know she killed Holtz!?"

"I suggested we burn the body, since he had been bitten. But she was surprised by this, like it had never crossed her mind. It never crossed her mind because she knew he hadn't been bitten."

"That's it! That's why you're going to kill her?," Angel exclaimed. After all, it was a flimsy reason to take a life.

"Also, I know more now than I did then. I've seen vampire wounds. Tell me dad, are they nothing more than two clean, simple, small, round punctures in the neck?" Angel didn't know what to say, so Connor continued. "Like two pinpricks? Is that all?"

"Well, sometimes" Angel stammered.

"They're bites! Teeth ripping into flesh. What Holtz had weren't bites. They were holes. Made by a knife."

"Connor, I don't know what happened. You don't know what happened. And even if you're right about Justine, you can't kill her. Not because she doesn't deserve it, but because you don't. You take a human life, that stays with you forever. It changes a person, in horrible ways. I can't let that happen to you."

"But you can let Justine get away with all this?," an exasperated Connor asked.

"Son, it's called forgiveness. Revenge, payback, that's what weak people do. Strong people, they forgive. They don't need vengeance. They resist those urges because they're better than that. Connor, what are you, strong or weak?"

Connor realized it was a rhetorical question, so he didn't answer it. Forgiveness – he knew he had heard that word before. He didn't know precisely what it meant but he thought it was something good. And Connor still could only conceive of concepts in terms of good and evil. Thus he figured forgiveness was good, vengeance bad.

"Okay, maybe killing a person isn't such a good idea right now," Connor conceded.

Angel was relieved. "Good to hear that. Can you put the knife away?"

Connor looked at the dagger. He had forgotten it was in his hand. He put it in the top drawer of his bedstand, just underneath the glowing Acacia crystal. The first Connor Crisis was averted. The homicidal glint was gone.

"Connor, now that you're here, there's so much I want to teach you, so many things I want to share with you. You're my son, and that means that I'll always love you, and I'll do anything to help you. But it also means that I worry about you. I can't help it. That's what parents do. I look at you, and I see the great man you're becoming, and I don't want to let you down. I want to make sure everything's turns out perfect for you."

With that Angel left the room. He walked out to the lobby where Cordelia was. "Cordy, can you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What?"

"Keep an eye on Connor. I have some business to attend to. It won't take long. But while I'm gone, stay with him. Promise me."

"Okay, but what is it you want me to do with him?"

"Just keep an eye on him. Talk about what he's been up to. Talk about Sunnydale. Talk about clothes. I don't care. Just don't let him out of your sight. I'll explain when I get back."

Knowing Connor, Cordelia had a vague idea what Angel meant. She knew enough to make sure Connor didn't go anywhere.

Angel's speech to Connor was so good it convinced even Angel. It had been a day of surprises. So Angel decided to pull a surprise of his own.

Wesley heard the knock at the door. He opened it. Saw Angel standing there. About 15 seconds of awkward silence ensued. Angel waited for Wes to invite him in. Wes waited for Angel to ask to be invited in.

"Can I come in?," Angel finally asked.

"Yes. You may enter," Wesley responded. He knew if Angel wanted to kill him he would have done it a long time ago.

"To what to I owe this honor?," Wesley asked Angel.

"To unintended consequences," Angel responded. "This evening, I stood right where I had stood this morning. I was in the same place, but in a different world. Ever had one of those days?"

"More than once," Wesley confessed.

"The past is prologue.' Someone wrote that, right?," Angel asked.

"Shakespeare," answered Wesley.

"He was wrong," Angel declared. "The past doesn't tell us about the future. The past is the setup, and the future is the punchline. We can't predict it. All we can be sure of is that it will surprise us."

"Yes, all we know is that we don't know. Clever paradox," Welsey added. "But I'm guessing you didn't come here to discuss the demerits of teleology and prognostication. Sorry to be so curt, but why are you here? Is this supposed to be when one of us asks the other for forgiveness?"

"To you, I have nothing to apologize for," Angel began. "And I can't forgive you. If I live for a thousand years more, I still won't be able to forgive you. But I need you."

"Come again?," Wesley asked Angel.

Angel explained. "I know that the day will come when someone I care about will die because you're not around to help. And when that happens, I won't be able to live with myself."

"Can't live with me, can't live without me. Yet another clever paradox," Wesley glibly commented.

"And I know that you also need me," Angel commented. "You need me a lot more than I need you." Angel was looking to bring forth some emotion from Wesley.

"I admit it. Without you, I'm Ronin," Wes confessed.

"A Samauri without a master," Angel observed. "Idle, alone, desperate for attention from someone, anyone."

"Precisely what bush are you trying to beat around?," Wes enquired.

Angel realized how disgusting that might sound in this context. So he wisely decided against answering that question with any names. "Word going round is that you've become quite the little tart," Angel joked.

"Hardly," Wes disagreed. "I've become more selective and discriminating that ever before. I'm only attracted to women I hate."

Angel knew that was a short list, and he knew the names that would be on it. With a stunned look of disbelief, he tried to make light of the matter, saying "I guess this is why Lilah's seemed less obsessed with me as of late."

"Jealous?," Wes asked jokingly.

"No. Just disturbed. And worried. For your sake."

"Don't worry. I didn't give her my soul. Or my heart. Or even my brain, which was what she wanted most. I won't nauseate you with the details. Let's just say she's surprisingly needy. Likes to cuddle. Kind of destroys the femme fatale mystique. Real turn-off."

"Lilah always struck me as the type who ate her mate afterwards," Angel joked. "A cuddler? Huh. Could come in handy next time I need to blackmail her."

Discussing his sordid affair with Lilah made Wesley think about a completely different type of relationship. "How are Fred and Gunn doing?," he asked Angel. "Are they still together?"

"Oh yeah. They're so sweet that if you're around them for a few minutes you feel like a diabetic." 

"That bad?," Wes wondered.

"Pancake kisses," Angel answered with a sneer.

Wes realized they were worse than he thought. "Reminds we why I gave up on wholesome relationships. So much has changed. That used to be what I wanted. I what I thought I wanted, anyway."

"What do you think you want now?," Angel wondered.

"A time machine," Wes joked. "Barring that, I want to return. That's what you want. That's why you came here, isn't it?"

"It's not what I want," Angel corrected Wes. "But it's what's got to be. Just remember, I need you, but I don't like you, and I don't trust you. Things will never be the same between us. If you can accept that, then welcome back."

Angel had one more thing to say. "Now that you have a job, maybe you'll have enough money to afford a razor." This was of course a reference to Wesley's perpetual stubble.

Wesley walked into the Hyperion a few steps ahead of Angel. Fred and Gunn had just returned from dinner. Upon seeing Wesley, Fred dropped her drink, spilling soda on the floor. "Wesley!" she screamed as she ran up to hug him. Wesley was too chastened by months of exile to show too much happiness. He felt that showing his joy would somehow make the moment unseemly. This wasn't a celebration, after all. Too much had happened for that to be the case.

Angel walked over to Cordelia, who was near the back of the lobby. "Is this supposed to be forgive and forget?," she asked Angel.

"Neither," Angel replied. "It's business. So how's Connor been?"

"Real quiet. He just sits there in the dark staring at some florescent stone." Right then Connor came out to the lobby to see what all the commotion was. He got a quick look at Wesley, and then Angel took him away.

"Son, how bout we do something tonight? Maybe take out a few vampires?"

"I'd like that," Connor answered. They walked out the back door. Connor had something on his mind.

"I was thinking about that guy who brought out the demon this afternoon. I know what he did was wrong, but I kind of understand. If Dawn ever left me for another, I don't know what I'd do. I know I could never hurt her, but I don't think I'd be able to go on living."

Angel really didn't like the sound of this. It sounded too much like himself. "That's how first love feels. But first love isn't always true love. If things end with her, it just means she wasn't the one. You'll find others. This is a big city. I'll sure you'll meet all lots of great girls."

Once again, daddy didn't understand, and Connor was content to leave it at that. Besides, there was something else on his mind. "That man who just walked in. I've seen him before."

Angel found it hard to believe Connor remembered Wesley from back when he was a baby. But that's not what Connor meant.

"He came by once to talk to Justine. I had to leave, and she locked the door."

This was definitely cringe-worthy information for Angel.

Connor continued. "Later he came out and talked to me. He told me you didn't kill Holtz, that you couldn't have done it. He said a lot of the same things Spike said. But I didn't know him, so I didn't believe him. I figured he was trying to trick me. Is he a friend of yours?"

"Someone I used to work with," Angel said evasively. Angel wanted to move onto a less-sensitive subject. "You do this a lot in Sunnydale? Go out at night looking for vampires?"

"You mean hunt? Yeah, I did that a lot. Buffy called it patrolling."

"So you hunted' vampires with Buffy?," Angel wondered.

"She kept getting in the way. I think she's jealous of me because I'm better than her. She always went on and on about how she was special, the chosen one, like she wants everybody to bow before her and worship her or something."

"But Connor, she is special. She's done a lot of great things, incredible things nobody else could have done."

"But she doesn't like it when someone else does a great thing. She likes to keep people in her shadow." 

They both heard vampires nearby, and ran to a small, deserted lot where they found two vampires loitering. The vampires climbed over a chain-link fence and fled down an alley. Angel and Connor each leaped over the fence and gave chase. Connor closed with one of the vampires, leaped forward, and knocked the vampire to the ground. The other vampire turned right and hid in a narrow passageway, hoping to elude his pursuers. Angel stopped at the passageway, reached his right hand out, and grabbed hold of this vampire. He then pulled him out of his hiding place and threw him against the wall.

The vampire Connor was fighting rose to his feet. The ground-level windows on the building flanking the alley were covered with metal bars. The vampire, realizing he would have to fight, ripped off one of these bars. He swung for Connor's head, and Connor ducked. He swung again, and Connor grabbed the metal bar and kicked the vampire in the stomach. The vampire backed up a few feet, and Connor hit him with a flying spin kick.

Meanwhile, the other vampire pulled a knife on Angel – he was unaware that Angel was a vampire. He thrust his right hand at Angel, trying to stab him. Angel grabbed his right wrist, and threw him face-first into a wall. The vampire spun around and slash at Angel, who ducked and hit the vampire with a right uppercut. He then pulled out his stake.

Connor's vampire grabbed the metal bar with both hands and tried to hit Connor over the head. Connor blocked this attack with his left hand and staked the vampire with his right. Just as Connor did this, Angel staked his vampire. It was an impressive father-son synchronized slaying.

Connor had something to tell Angel. "Last night, Xander told me that I needed to give you a chance. I'm glad I listened to him."

Angel didn't know what to make of this. Xander saying something on Angel's behalf? It was inconceivable. But it had been that kind of a day.


End file.
